When steel is heat treated to increase its strength, it is concurrently made subject to embrittlement in a hydrogen atmosphere. Use of steel in, e.g., a chemical or nuclear process or under circumstances wherein it is in contact with sea water often requires high-tensile strengths, but attempts to produce such steel result in products which suffer from a marked brittleness phenomenon caused by hydrogen and resulting from the strengthening treatment.
Many basic steel compositions are known, including those referred to in U.S. Pat. No. 3,093,519, the entire relevant disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Such compositions provide suitable starting materials for the present invention.